Man’s best friend? Dog accidentally shoots owner

A 78-year-old Florida man was shot by his bulldog while on a deer hunting trip this past weekend.

The shooting occurred while Billy E. Brown, the general manager of energy co-op Withlacoochee River Electric in Dade City, drove down a bumpy road with his dog and a hunting buddy, ABC News reported.

According to the St. Petersburg Times:

The dog, named Eli, was moving back and forth between the front and back seats of the extended cab. The gun was between the two men, pointed skyward. The dog knocked the rifle toward Brown's right leg while his paw also switched off the safety and pulled the trigger.

Brown, who was shot in the thigh, was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Fla., where he had surgery, ABC News reported. He remains in critical condition, but family members and colleagues are hopeful he’ll recover. "He's a tough old bird. He'll pull through,” Withlacoochee River Electric spokesman David Lambert told the St. Petersburg Times.

Brown’s daughter, Laura Brown Melton, told the St. Petersburg Times that she was upset that some news organizations had made light of the accident. “It’s critical, horrible," she said. "Not funny."

Oddly, it’s the second report this month of a dog shooting their owner in a hunting mishap.

On Dec. 1, a 46-year-old Utah duck hunter was shot in the buttocks by his dog in the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, ABC News reported. The man left his 12-gauge shotgun across the bow of the boat while he set decoys in the water, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. “The dog got excited, was jumping around inside the boat and then it jumped on the gun. It went off, shooting the [decoy setter] in the buttocks,” Box Elder County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Kevin Potter told the Salt Lake Tribune.

More from GlobalPost: Tommaso, the Italian cat, inherits $13 million from owner Maria Assunta